Local Digital Marketing For Dummies, Newbies, Unbelievers

Local Marketing For Dummies

1. Local Searches Lead 50% Of Mobile Visitors To Physically Visit Stores Within One Day
Google’s research into local search behaviours revealed that local searchers are positioned to take action. That means they want to spend their money and are looking for a local, convenient place to do so. According to Google’s findings, “50% of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within a day, and 34% who searched on computer/tablet did the same.” This means rankings in local search has a direct and spectacular impact and boost to in-store traffic.

2. More Than 60% Of Consumers Have Used Local Information In Adverts Seen Online
In the same study, Google found that consumers have a clear preference when it comes to having adverts customised to their surroundings. They found that:

67% of smartphone users want ads customised via city and Postal code

61% want ads customised to their immediate surroundings.

61% use the address or phone number in the ad.

68% use the “Get Directions” or “Call” buttons.

3. 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations
Local businesses should be aware of the importance of online reviews, especially positive ones. They should also seek advice on how best to deal with negative ones too. As highlighted in this stat from BrightLocal’s 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey. Increasingly, consumers are turning to Google to get recommendations and referrals for local businesses.

4. Business Address/Location Is The Primary Piece Of Information Sought By Local Searchers
We’ve already stated the importance of using local information in your adverts; however, it’s just as important to make sure you’re including key contact and location info on your website and social media profiles, as well as accurate map references and directions. LetsTalkSocialMediaCan Help Your Optimise Your Listings.

According to research by “comScore”, “Neustar Localeze” and agency “15 Miles”, address and location are the primary pieces of information sought by local searchers.

5. 18% Of Local Mobile Searches Lead To A Sale Within One Day
One Day! How will that affect your bottom line? We already mentioned how local searchers are more likely to visit a store, but Google has also found that these customers are likely to actually make a purchase, within the next day. They also found that one in three smartphone searches occurred immediately before a consumer visited a store and that 15% of in-store activity involved product or price comparison searches.

In other words, capturing the local search market means first dibs for consumers who are in the final stages of the buying cycle, wallets out, ready to buy. Try enticing these consumers to spend money in your store through the use of mobile coupon campaigns.

6. 50% Of Mobile Users Always Prefer A Mobile Browser To A Mobile App
There has been a lot of talk about mobile optimisation, mobile apps and responsive design since Google’s move to include mobile-friendliness as a significant ranking factor for its mobile search results. However, brand-new research from BrightLocal reveals that half of mobile users prefer using a mobile internet browser to mobile maps (40%) and mobile apps (only 10%).

7. Mobile Site Optimisation

According to the BrightLocal study, 38% of consumers are impressed when a local business has a mobile-optimised site.

Summary

If you haven’t already optimised your site for mobile, you may have seen a significant drop in your search rankings and traffic since April 21, 2015 (the launch date of Google’s Mobilegeddon algorithm update).

If you don’t use Facebook for business you are missing out on countless sales.

If you are not registered comprehensively with the right “local directories”, your business may as well not exist online.